Panty girdle



M. NEIMAN PANTY GIRDLE May 22, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 3, 1960 M. NEIMAN PANTY GIRDLE May 22, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 3, 1960 United States Patent 0.

3,035,585 PANTY GIRDLE Mary Neiman, Woodmere, N.Y., assignor to Kops Bros, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 3, 1960, Ser. No. 26,608 11 Claims. (Cl. 128-524) This invention relates to a new panty girdle construction which provides maximum convenience to the wearer and retains its proper position on the body at all times.

Numerous attempts have been made to'provide a panty girdle which has a crotch piece extending from front to rear between the legs of the wearer and which may, without removing the garment or drastically altering its position on the body, enable the wearer to take care of normal convenience requirements throughout a long day. None of these attempts have heretofore been fully suc cessful. The constructions heretofore proposed have been of such a character that substantial portions of the garment have of necessity been displaced from their normal operative positions in order to meet the convenience of the wearer, or the garment in normal use has failed to provide the desired body confining action. No one has heretofore devised a construction which eliminates the need for drastic displacement of portions of the garment in meeting convenience requirements and at the same time provides the desired body confining forces in the normal use of the garment.

A primary purpose of the present invention has been to provide a panty girdle which meets all of the foregoing objectives. The improved garment provides the desired body confining forces and yet enables the wearer to take care of convenience requirements without the necessity of any drastic displacement or freeing of the garment from its normal body confining position.

The foregoing purpose of the invention is achieved in accordance with the invention by a very simple construction and arrangement of the essential parts thereof and in a manner to provide maximum comfort to the wearer at all times. Chafing and other discomforts created by garments heretofore proposed to meet the convenience of the wearer have been completely eliminated.

ther objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof which will now be given in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the panty girdle;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of said panty girdle;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the girdle as applied to the wearer, taken along the broken line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with a crotch element of the garment detached from the front thereof;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to P16. 2 with the crotch element detached from the front thereof;

FlG. 6 is a cross-sectional view through the girdle as applied to the wearer, taken along the broken line 5-45 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the crotch piece.

Referring now to the drawings, the improved garment comprises a body encircling member formed of a number of panels secured together by suitable lines of stitching. It includes side panels 16 and 11 preferably formed of two-way stretch elastic material. At the adjacent edges of the panels 11 and 13 there is provided a vertically extending opening from the upper edge of the garment to a point slightly below the maximum girth of the wearer. This opening may be closed in any suitable manner, as by way of a slide fastener 11:: when the garment is applied to the wearer. When it is being applied the slide fastener is shifted to open the garment and permit the ployed in the panels 10, 11, 12 and 13.

3,835,535 Patented May 22, 1962 wearer to step into it. As is customary, the edges con: nected by the slide fastener are preferably also provided with hooks and eyes beneath the fastener to assist in closing the garment. Connected by suitable stitching with the panel 10 at the front edge thereof is a two-way stretch panel 12 and similarly there is connected by suitable stitching with the front edge of panel 11 a two-way stretch panel 13. All of the panels 10, 11, 12 and 13 extend throughout the length of the garment. At the front there is secured, by suitable lines of stitching, to the inner edges of the panels 12 and 13 a panel 14 which is preferably formed of a fabric having a vertical stretch only.

At the back of the garment a panel 15 serves to interconnect the inner edges of the top portions of the panels 10 and 11. Panel 15 is secured by suitable lines of stitching to the panels 10 and 11 and is preferably formed of two-way elastic material. Below the panel 15 the back of the garment is provided with a panel 16 which is connected by suitable lines of stitching to the panels 10, 11 and 15. Preferably, as shown, the panel 15 has a down wardly extending V-shaped portion which is stitched to a V-shaped opening at the top of the panel 16'. The latter is preferably formed of one-way stretch elastic material having its stretch in a vertical direction. Panel 16 terminates at its lower end in edges 16a, 16b and 16c which are preferably disposed in angular relation to each other, as shown in FIG. 2.

The garment is formed to provide leg extensions adapted to encircle the thighs of the wearer. These leg extensions are formed in part by the lower ends of panels 10 and 11, in part by the lower ends of panels 12 and 13, and are completed by panels 17 and 18. The latter may be formed of two-way stretch elastic similar to that em- The inwardly extending portions of the leg structure formed by the panels 17 and 18 terminate in free upper edges 17:: and 18a, preferably having the contour at the front and back indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively.

Panel 14 is cut away slightly at its lower end to provide a curved lower edge 14:: and panels 17 and 18 are cut away along curved lines 17b and 18b forming extensions of the edges 17a and 18a. In this way a crotch opening is provided in the garment which extends to a elatively high point at the rear of the garment and only to a somewhat lower point at the front of the garment The leg forming sections 17 and 18 are secured to the back panel 16 along a line 19 by suitable stitching and the adjacent edges of the panels 17 and 18 are joined together along their inner edges by stitching indicated at in FIG. 2. That portion of the crotch opening which is defined by the edges 1% and 18b is covered by the lower portion of panel 16, but this lower portion of panel 16 may be lifted slightly for convenience purposes.

At the front of the garment there is preferably secured a small section of non-elastic and ornamental fabric 20 which may suitably be of a diamond shape, as shown in FIG. 1. This section is secured to the panel 14 along lines of stitching 29a and 20b but is free of the panel in the lower half of the section. The lower portion of section 20 carries suitable components of any desired form of detachable fastening means. These may, for example, be in the form of the female elements 21 of snap fasteners.

To close the crotch of the garment a Special crotch piece 22, best shown in FIG. 7, is provided. This has the male components 22a of the snap fasteners for cooperation with the elements 21. In this way the crotch piece is attached to the inner face of the cloth section 20. The other end of the crotch piece has male elements 22b of snap fasteners adapted to cooperate with female elements 23 of such fasteners carried by the inner face of the panel 16 of the garment.

To provide a firmer body confining action in the region of maximum girth and upwardly from this region to a point slightly below the waistline of the wearer and downwardly from said region to a point well below the latter, there are stitched to the inner faces of the panels 12 and 13 substantially triangular sections 24 and 24a of elastic fabric, preferably having a two-way stretch with somewhat greater extensibility transversely of the body than vertically. The sections 24 and 240 are stitched along the diagonal lines shown in FIG. 1 to the panels 12 and 13 and their inner edges are incorporated in the seams which connect the panels 12 and 13 with the front panel 14. The apex of the triangular section 24 is also incorporated in the seam which unites the panels and 12 and the apex of the section 24a is similarly incorporated in a line of stitching along the right edge (FIG. 1) of the panel 13.

The garment may, if desired, be provided with a number of stays, such as indicated at 10a, 10b and 14a in FIG. 1 and at 15a and 15b in FIG. 2. Suitable stay receiving pockets may be formed for this purpose by the application of tapes to the inner surfaces of the various panels. Other tapes may be provided along various seam lines and along free edges of the garment to improve the strength and appearance of the garment.

The region of maximum girth of the garment is indicated at -25 in FIGS. 1 and 2. This region is slightly above the line of stitching 19 at the rear of the garment. The region just below the buttocks of the wearer is indicated at 26-26. It will be seen in FIG. 2 that the opening at the rear of the garment, defined by the edges 17b and 18b of the panels 17 and 18, extends upwardly to a point substantially above the'region 26-26 and close to the region of maximum girth. This is an important feature from the convenience standpoint. At the same time, in order to retain the desired body confining action down to the region 26-26, the rear panel 16 extends downwardly below the region 26-26 and is secured at its edges to the side panels 10 and 11 down to a point below the region 26-26.

While a preferred embodiment of the new panty girdle has been described in considerable detail, it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction of the garment within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A panty girdle having a body encircling portion with a part in the crotch region of the wearer, said body encircling portion being formed in part of transversely elastic material adapted and arranged to apply a body confining force to the wearer, said body encircling portion having its upper end in the region of the waistline of the wearer and its lower end in a region below the maximum girth around the hips, said girdle having two transversely elastic portions attached to said body encircling portion adjacent its lower end each arranged to encircle one of the thighs of the wearer, said thigh encircling portions having free upper edges beneath the crotch region of the body encircling portion, said body encircling portion having openings in the front and rear thereof extending upwardly above the upper edges of said thigh encircling portions, said opening in the rear extending to a point in the region of the maximum girth at the hip region of the garment, a panel forming a part of the rear of said body encircling portion having an apron-like part thereof free of said body encircling portion and extending downwardly over a portion of said opening in the rear and arranged to transmit body confining forces across said opening, and a crotch piece attached at one end to the lower part of said panel and at its other end to the front of said body encircling portion, said crotch piece being detachable from said body encircling portion at at least one end of said piece.

2. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 1 in which said body encircling portion comprises side panels formed of two-Way stretch elastic material, and front and rear panels formed of one-way elastic material having its elasticity in a vertical direction.

3. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 1 in which said crotch piece has elasticity in the longitudinal direction thereof.

4. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 3 in which said crotch piece is detachably connected with both the front of said body encircling portion of said girdle and with the lower end of said panel.

5. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 1 in which said body encircling portion comprises transversely elastic members extending around the sides of the wearer and front and rear panels which are substantially non-elastic in a transverse direction, said rear panel extending below the region of maximum girth in the hip surrounding portion of the girdle and being secured to said transversely elastic members and arranged to provide a body confining force across the region of said maximum girth and down to a point below said region of maximum girth.

6. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 1 in which means are provided in said body encircling portion in the front part thereof to impart a stronger body confining force in the area between the waistline region and the region of maximum girth.

7. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 1 which comprises front, rear and side panels formed of two-way stretch elastic material, a panel centrally disposed at the front of said girdle connected with said first recited front panels and said first recited rear panel being formed of material which is elastic only in a direction lengthwise of the girdle.

8. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 7 in which said thigh encircling portions are formed of two-way stretch elastic.

9. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 1 in which said thigh encircling portions are interconnected along a vertical seam at the rear of said garment and are connected with said panel at the rear of said garment along a line substantially at the maximum girth in the hip region of the girdle.

l0. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 9 in which said panel forming a part of the rear of said body encircling portion is free of said thigh encircling portions in a transverse direction below said region of maximum girth around the hips of the wearer.

ll. A panty girdle of the character set forth in claim 10 in which said panel at the rear of said body encircling portion has a free lower edge which extends diagonally downwardly from each side of said panel toward the center th reof to provide a free section extending downwardly to a point adjacent the lower end of said opening in the rear of said body encircling member.

References Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES FATENTS 2,367,328 Bercaitz Jan. 16, 1945 2,529,115 Thalman Nov. 7, 1950 2,775,767 Gould Jan. 1, 1957 2,779,023 Lax Jan. 29, 1957 2,908,277 Peck Oct. 13, 1959 

